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Griffin's return provides energy, scoring boost for Lady Bulldogs

Georgia Bulldogs guard Tiaria Griffin (11) is shown against the Kentucky during the first half of their NCAA college basketball game in the Southeastern Conference tournament, Saturday, March 9, 2013, in Duluth, Ga. Texas A&M won 66-62. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Coming off a three-game suspension to open the season, Georgia sophomore Tiaria Griffin more than made up for lost time in her Lady Bulldogs debut earlier this week.

In No. 23 Georgia’s 72-48 victory over Furman on Tuesday night, the 5-foot-7 guard registered 21 points, six steals and four rebounds in 29 minutes of play and in the process presented the Lady Bulldogs (4-0) with some new energy and coach Andy Landers with some new personnel options.

“It helps us in about every way you can imagine,” Landers, whose team hosts Georgia Tech (2-1) at 2 p.m. today, said. “It especially helps all the other guards because you can have a rotation and you know that rotation has quality people in it. That’s the place I feel it the most — just being able to have choices in who to play in certain situations and to have choices of taking people out when they are tired or need to be taken out.”

Landers, who suspended Griffin and fellow sophomore Marjorie Butler in October, added that she strengthens the Lady Bulldogs’ offense and defense when she’s on the floor.

“Obviously, when she walks out on the court, I think she’s one of the better on-the-ball defenders in the conference,” he said. “She’s superb, which gives us a different element there. And offensively, you can see in her first game what she’s capable of doing on any given night.”

A starter in 17 of Georgia’s 35 games a season ago, Griffin indicated she wanted to get busy in a hurry when her number was finally called.

“I had a lot of catching up to do,” Griffin, who averaged 7.3 points and 2.9 rebounds as a freshman, said. “I didn’t know what would happen, but I felt prepared and was ready for whatever they were throwing at us. I felt I had a lot of energy to give and I just came out hard.”

Griffin added that it was difficult to sit and watch for the season’s first two weeks.

“Just sitting on the bench knowing I couldn’t go in was hard,” she said. “But I learned from my mistake and I got to encourage my teammates while they were out there and when they came to the bench.”

Suffice it to say, her teammates are delighted with her return.

“Tiaria’s amazing,” senior guard Khaalidah Miller, who is averaging 11 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, said. “On the perimeter, she gets out there defensively and she also brings a lot offensively, and that’s what we need on the perimeter. We need guards to be in synch and have chemistry on the perimeter. She’s fun to play with — it’s like playing with Erika (Ford) or Shacobia (Barbee). We have a really good backcourt.”

“It was really big,” Barbee, who’s averaging 10 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, added. “She came out with a lot of energy and excitement when she was on the court, knocking down shots. I think everyone’s excited about her being back. It’s a great opportunity to see how good we can be when we get everybody back.”

Although Butler will remain sidelined with a shoulder injury, the Lady Bulldogs are as close to a full complement of players as they’ve been all season. And it’s likely they’ll need a host of able bodies against Georgia Tech, which has three players averaging double-figure points, including freshman guard Kaela Davis, who’s averaging 22.7 points and 8.7 rebounds in the Yellow Jackets’ first three games.

“Georgia Tech is a very good basketball team — they’re athletic, they’re long, they’re quick and they’re big on the perimeter,” Landers, who has never lost to Georgia Tech in Stegeman Coliseum, said. “They are some of the things we aren’t. By comparison, we’re small on the perimeter. They want to press you in a variety of ways and then they’ve got people who can score.”

Pointing out that Georgia Tech has a host of dangerous offensive weapons, Landers added his team doesn’t have a special plan to deal with the 6-2 Davis, whose father, Antonio Davis, played in the NBA for 12 years and who paced two different teams to state basketball championships (Norcross in 2010 and Buford in 2011).

“We’re not changing a lot,” Landers said. “Every time we play we kind of scheme to what we think the strengths are and how we can defend those out of our base stuff. It’s not like we have a lot of junk for particular people; we just recognize who they are and what they and their team does to get scoring opportunities and we try to defend against that. And that’s what we’ll do.”

SERIES: Georgia leads the all-time series, which began in 1975, 31-4. The two teams did not play one another from 1990-1993, and since that time the Lady Bulldogs have gone 13-4 against the Yellow Jackets.

LAST MEETING: Georgia defeated Georgia Tech 60-50 last December in Atlanta.

SEASON AT A GLANCE: After winning games over Coppin State (79-57) and Western Carolina (87-47), Georgia Tech last Sunday lost to No. 3 Tennessee 87-76 in Knoxville. Georgia has recorded victories over Presbyterian (45-30), Mercer (52-41), Ohio State (53-49) and Furman (72-48).

NOTEWORTHY: Georgia is ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press poll and No. 21 in the USA Today coaches’ poll. … Tiarria Griffin returned to the floor after a three-game suspension but Marjorie Butler, who was also suspended three games, did not play against Furman and is not expected to play today due to a shoulder injury. … After today’s game, the Lady Bulldogs will host South Carolina State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday and will meet George Washington at 4:15 p.m. on Friday in Atlanta. … Machelle Joseph is in her 12th season as Georgia Tech coach and has compiled a record of 195-123; the Yellow Jackets went 14-16 with a 7-11 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference. … In her first game, Georgia Tech freshman Kaela Davis of Buford collected a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds, had 20 points and 10 rebounds in her second game and posted 28 points and five rebounds against Tennessee. … Besides Davis, Georgia Tech has two other Georgia-born players: sophomore guard Kymberly Ellison (Hardaway) and junior guard Sydney Wallace (Northview). … Wallace averages 12 points and 1.7 rebounds per game for the Yellow Jackets.